Stemcells@lunch Digested

Prof Janet Rossant, Senior Scientist on the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, Chief of Research Emeritus at the SickKids Research Institute, President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation and Professor in the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Toronto, is interviewed by PhD student Geraldine Jowett. Janet discusses her work characterising embryonic development and applying this to generate stem cell models. She talks about the importance of the terminology and language used surrounding embryo research, as well as how her lab is contributing to the COVID response. For more information on Janet's research follow this link: https://lab.research.sickkids.ca/rossant/

"It’s a mindset." Prof Olivier Pourquié, Professor of Pathology and Professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, is interviewed by PhD student Ella Hubber. Olivier breaks down how spinal vertebrae are formed in the embryo through a “segmentation clock” and how understanding this is relevant to human disease. He also talks about the significant changes in developmental biology over the course of his career. For more information on Olivier's research follow this link: https://hsci.harvard.edu/people/olivier-pourqui%C3%A9-phd

Prof Cristina Lo Celso, Professor of Stem Cell Biology and group leader at Imperial College London, is interviewed by PhD student Elena Drudi. Cristina discusses her work visualising blood stem cells and determining the factors that control their function, to better understand mechanisms underlying blood based cancers. She also talks about her career progression and the importance for her of travelling between countries. For more information on Cristina's research follow this link: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/c.lo-celso

We return this week to an episode recorded during lockdown. Dr Ivo Lieberam, Senior Lecturer and group leader at the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King's College London, is interviewed by PhD student Eva Hamrud. Ivo discusses his work on generating neuromuscular models in a dish that can be used to understand neuromuscular diseases and screen novel therapies. He also discusses his long term aim to generate technologies, such as light controlled medical devices and biorobots, that could be used in the future to treat a range of diseases. For more information on Ivo's research follow this link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divisions/gmm/departments/stemcells/people/dr-ivo-lieberam

We return this week with an episode recorded during lockdown. Dr Francesca Spagnoli, Group Leader at the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King's College London, is interviewed by PhD student Teodora Manea. Francesca discusses her group's research on understanding how pancreatic beta cells communicate with their environment and the possibility of converting liver cells to pancreas cells, with the aim of applying this to cell replacement therapies in the treatment of diabetes. She also talks about studying mouse and human pancreatic development and learning from a comparative approach. For more on Francesca's research, follow this link: https://www.spagnolilab.org/

We return this week with an episode recorded during lockdown. Prof. James Sharpe, the head of EMBL Barcelona, is interviewed by PhD student Sergi Junyent. Prof. Sharpe is one of the key opinion leaders in developmental biology and bioengineering. Here, he talks about the pioneering work done by his group in understanding tissue development and discusses his how his work brings together his passion for computer programming and biology. For more information on Prof. Sharpe's research follow this link: https://www.embl.es/research/unit/sharpe/members/index.php?s_personId=CP-60027035

“Even just to understand the genesis of human being itself... It must be one of the holy grails of modern biology.” We return this week with an episode recorded during lockdown. Professor Jianping Fu, a professor of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical engineering and Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan, is interviewed by PhD student Sergi Junyent. He talks about the technical difficulties and ethical issues of studying human development. He discusses the growing field of stem cell based embryo models to study the early stages of development and the future directions of these models. For more information on Jianping's research follow this link: http://me-web.engin.umich.edu/ibbl/

We return this week with an episode recorded during lockdown. Professor Ludovic Vallier, Professor of Regenerative Medicine within the Department of Surgery at Cambridge University and director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre hIPSCs (human induced pluripotent stem cells) core facility, is interviewed by PhD student Alice Vickers. He talks about his work using human pluripotent cells to generate pancreas, lung, gut and liver cells. He speaks about how his involvement in industry aims to generate cell types for clinical studies and for cell based therapy. For more information on Ludovic's research follow this link: https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/People/pi/vallier

We return this week with an episode recorded during lockdown. Professor Peter Jones, Professor of Endocrine Biology and head of the Department of Physiology at King's College London, is interviewed by PhD student Prudence Lui. Peter breaks down the basics of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and discusses his lab's recent research into the phenomenon of mitochondrial transfer. After 36 years at King's, Peter talks about what has kept him in scientific research. For more information on Peter's research follow this link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/peter-jones

We return this week to an episode recorded during lockdown. Dr Norah Fogarty, a new group leader at the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King's College London, is interviewed by PhD student Geraldine Jowett. Norah discusses her work on the development of the trophectoderm in the human embryo, which is the progenitor of early placental cells. She talks about how this work aims to further our understanding of human embryo development and early pregnancy loss, and may in the future lead to advances in assisted reproductive treatments. For more information on Norah's research follow this link: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/norah.fogarty.html

Today on the SC@L Digested Podcast, Post-doc Miguel Bernabe-Rubio speaks with Alejo Rodriguez-Fraticelli, a research fellow at the Boston Children’s Hospital and soon-to-be principal investigator at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona. Alejo talks about his work using single cell maps to understand highly variable populations of cells and his future research focus on acute myeloid leukaemia. He also talks about developing his skills in computational biology through collaboration and the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone to succeed in interdisciplinary research. To see more of Alejo's research, follow this link: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/176343

“Take care of yourself, but also be aware of others who are more vulnerable than you” For this episode of SC@L digested, CSCRM public engagement officer Jessica Sells chatted with Victor Negri, A Post Doc in Fiona Watt’s lab, about his experience of lockdown. We've been exploring the impact that lockdown is having on our researchers by asking them to share their experiences. All of our staff are in unique positions, meaning lockdown is affecting their personal and work lives dramatically differently. For Victor the pandemic has been quite scary, as he has to take daily immunosuppressants for a health condition. He tells us how this has made him feel, and also his thoughts on how this situation will hopefully make the public take science more seriously... For more examples of our lockdown stories, visit the Watt Lab Blog here: www.wattlab.org

We return this week to an episode recorded during lockdown. Geraldine Jowett, a final year PhD student on the Wellcome Trust Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine programme at King's College London, is interviewed by PhD student Emily Read. Geraldine discusses her work that uses stem cells to make mini-intestine in a dish models, also known as organoids, to understand Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She talks about the difficulties of an interdisciplinary PhD and what she has learnt moving between Germany, the United States and Britain. For more information on Geraldine's research follow this link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/geraldine-jowett

We return this week to another interview recorded before lockdown. PhD student Christopher Lambert interviews Dr José Silva, a group leader at the Welcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Dr Silva tells us about his career path from PhD to group leader and his current research in cellular reprogramming. They discuss the importance of collaboration in basic research and the need for a long-term, step-wise approach to progress the field of cellular reprogramming. Dr Silva also looks to the future, talking about his move into creating synthetic embryos. For more information about Dr Silva's research, follow this link: https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/People/pi/silva

For our 100th SC@L episode, we've done something a bit different... We've been exploring the impact that lockdown is having on our researchers by asking them to share their experiences. All of our staff are in unique positions, meaning lockdown is affecting their personal and work lives dramatically differently . For this Lockdown Story, Public Engagement Officer Jess Sells remotely interviews CSCRM Director and MRC Exec Chair Professor Fiona Watt. Fiona talks about how she has been maintaining a work-life balance, thoughts on how this situation will change science, and society in general. For more examples of our lockdown stories, visit the Watt Lab Blog here: https://www.wattlab.org

We return this week to another interview recorded before lockdown. Professor Susan Kimber, Professor of Stem & Developmental Biology at University of Manchester, speaks to PhD student Peter Harley. She discusses her work that uses human stem cell models to understand human development and to model vascular, skeletal and kidney diseases in a dish. She talks about how human stem cell models are important for both basic and translational science. When asked what makes a successful scientific career, she discusses the important of stamina and resilience. For more information on Professor Kimber's research follow this link: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/sue.kimber.html

On this episode of the SC@L Digested Podcast, we return to an interview recorded before lockdown. PhD student, Inchul Cho, speaks to Dr Nathan Hawkshaw, a research associate in the Division of Musculoskeletal & Dermatological Sciences at the University of Manchester. They discuss how immunosuppressants could promote human hair growth and treat hair loss and consider how the immune system is involved in hair cycling. They also discuss Dr Hawkshaw's current research into the effects of ultra-violet radiation on the skin. For more information on Dr Hawkshaw's research follow this link: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/nathan.hawkshaw.html

Today on SC@L digested PhD Student Dr Beibei Du speaks with Dr Simón Méndez-Ferrer, a Reader in Transfusion Medicine at the University of Cambridge. They discuss what controls blood stem cell behaviour, including whether you are awake or asleep. Simón also talks about how understanding what makes blood stem cells move can be used in stem cell transplants to treat blood cancers. For more information on Simón's research, follow this link: http://www.haem.cam.ac.uk/staff/senior-staff/dr-simon-mendez-ferrer/

For this episode of SC@L we’ve given remote recording a go to keep producing the podcast on lockdown! PhD student Ana Maria Cujba interviews Dr David Willnow from the Spagnoli Group at the CSCRM. They discuss his research into how the pancreas develops in the embryo and how this will develop potential future therapies for diabetes with this knowledge, David’s involvement multidiciplinary Pan3dp initiative , and the challenges of the immune response to regenerative cell therapies. For more information on David's research and the Spagnoli Lab, follow this link: https://www.spagnolilab.org

For this extra special episode of SC@L digested, we are joined by CSCRM Director and MRC Executive Chair Professor Fiona Watt! Her PhD student Dr Xinyi (Beibei) Du speaks to her about her career path, what factors have helped her on her journey to success, her experiences of being a prominent woman in science and how we can support women in science. For more information on Professor Watt’s research follow this link: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/fiona-watt